TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -Florida State is still searching for a running attack two games into the season.
“If we want to get up to the next level, we’re going to have to improve our line blocking and our running game,” coach Bobby Bowden said Wednesday as his team prepares for Saturday’s game against No. 7 BYU.
And it won’t be easy against a veteran BYU defense that hasn’t given up a play of over 20 yards in wins over Oklahoma and Tulane.
In their first two games, the Seminoles (1-1) totaled 188 yards on the ground and leading rusher Ty Jones got 99 of those. Quarterback Christian Ponder is the second leading rusher with 30 yards while Jermaine Thomas, the starting tailback in the season opener against Miami, has just 18 yards on 9 carries.
“We would love to have the running game where it needs to be to keep defenses honest,” running backs coach Dexter Carter said. “The running game is imperative to our success.”
coaches were confident going into the season that a running game that averaged almost 180 yards a game last year would be improved. But it hasn’t happened.
“It might have been they heard all year how good they are,” Bowden said. “We’ve got to step it up.”
Offensive line coach Rick Trickett put his linemen off limits to reporters this week until he’s satisfied with their performance.
It’s been 13 seasons since Warrick Dunn rang up the last 1,000-yard rushing season at Florida State. And the compact Dunn is the only Seminole to do it more than once. He did it three straight years for the Seminoles before peeling off five more 1,000-yard seasons in a sterling NFL career.
Dunn averaged 113 yards rushing a game in his 1,242 yard, record-setting 1995 season at Florida State.
And while it should be easier these days to reach the 1,000-yard plateau with an additional game or two tacked onto collegiate schedules, it’s still the gold standard for runners.
With a potential of 14 games a season now with conference playoffs and bowl games, a running back needs to average slightly more than 71 yards per game to reach the 1,000-yard mark.
“That’s a goal of every running back, to be successful, protect the football and gain 1,000 yards,” said Carter, himself a former Seminole tailback in the late 1980s. “I believe we have a system and the backs, not just one, who could potentially do it.”
The Seminoles have featured some durable tailbacks over the intervening years, including Travis Minor, Greg Jones, Leon Washington, Lorenzo Booker and Antone Smith, but none reached 1,000 yards in a season.
Carter doesn’t care if one guy carries the load or its divided among several.
Thomas, a 188-pound sophomore from Jacksonville, gained 482 yards last year, averaging a Dunn-like seven yards per carry as a backup to Smith. But he was nicked in the opener against Miami and Jones celebrated his first start with a pair of short touchdown runs in a last-minute win over Jacksonville (Ala.) State. Jones’ 99 yards this season matched his total freshman production.
A couple of freshmen tailbacks, Lonnie Prior and Chris Thompson, are in the wings if needed, along with injury-plagued junior college transfer Tavares Pressley.
“We’ve got five guys who can play,” Carter said. “Whoever grabs the reins will be the one who is going to be the guy.”
Add A Comment